Dec 29, 2009

Naples Holiday Boat Parade -- SD Style!

Those crazy band of paddlers were at it again...This time, their adventures brought them to the fabled waters of Naples for the annual Christmas Boat Parade! Lead by our own handsome coach extraordinaire Ceez, and his mighty band of raucous elves, the crew worked tirelessly to make sure the design and look were as silky smooth as the new SD stroke (if you have no idea what I'm talkin' bout or just plain curious about dragon boat paddling and the Space Dragons, come hang with us!!)

Deej and I would like to thank you all for your time and efforts that you put in this year's Christmas boat entry. I thought the boat looked great. If our boat does not win the Small Boat award, I am jumping off the 2nd St. Bridge!! Deej and I were happy that everything went quite smooth with the design of the boat, the building of the boat also the paddling to the dismantling. The team cohesiveness was awesome!! It brought tears to our eyes!!

The idea started during lunch at L&Ls after practice. Phil and Blanquita thought it would be a great idea to enter a Christmas boat in this year's parade. Deej and I laughed!! Whatever!! It takes a planning, design, resources and teamwork to put out a decent Christmas boat. Anyway, I thought about it as they talked amongst themselves, what the heck.... Let's do it!!...again!! You can thank them two for getting the boat idea going.

I can say this, every time the Space Dragons put out a Christmas boat, it gets better and better!! This year is no exception it was well planned, we had solid help and materials we got from our teammates was exceptional!!

Special thanks to Scotty and Kameron for letting us use his Space Dragon Clubhouse for meetings, pre-fabricating the frame and getting a head start on the garlands for the side of the boat. Roberto thanks for bringing your tools and being a jack of all trades that day. Davin, Devant and Jason...thanks for helping where needed too. Kat, Jennifer, Karen, Sammi, Marina, Mayana, Jackie, Vanessa and Suzie for providing decorative materials and putting it together for us on parade day. Denise for the goodies, you can cook!! Nick, the aloha shirt idea worked out well!! The floodlights really showed you guys off. Phil for the power and Blanquita in getting the banner. Last but not least, Garrett!! Garrett did a wonderful job on our banner. He has also made numerous banners and stuff for the Space Dragons throughout the year. We have a little something for him and his troubles. If I forgot to thank somebody...please forgive me. You all were important for this project!!